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Leave it to Chota
Leave it to Chota (まかせて長太 Makasete Chota)'' is a gag manga by Fujio Akatsuka and later also credited to Fujio Pro. It ran in Kobunsha's ''Shonen from October 1963 to September 1965. Overview This series centers around the fifth grader Chota working as an assistant for his handyman father. The two often wind up getting into unusual situations and exploited by criminals when they decide to take whatever work they can, though sometimes it will only be Chota that is vulnerable. A month before its debut in Shonen, an advertisement for the series depicted a much different character design for Chota than what readers would eventually see. In the ad, Chota had overalls like his father and a larger noseShonen September 1963 issue scans, Yahoo blog post (Japanese). His design was changed by the first actual story, although he would gradually evolve to resemble the lead of Osomatsu-kun but with glasses and freckles. However, characters from there and other currently-running Akatsuka series would show up in plots, as part of his Star System. Some characters that would come to be associated with -kun and The Genius Bakabon also made their debut here; the diminutive trickster Hagechibi in chapter 4 (re-appearing in chapter 21), and the White Snow Boss in chapter 16. Characters Chota The protagonist. He is a spirited young boy willing to take on any job, and believes that he'll be able to complete the task easily. Unfortunately, this often leads to him being taken advantage of and put into dangerous situations. Chota has a markedly distinct appearance in the first chapter of the series, sporting large buckteeth and much messier hair while also wearing shorts with his winter jacket. This is tweaked by the second story and on, where he steadily loses the buckteeth and (as mentioned in the overview) becomes more like a Matsuno sextuplet in general shape and design points, to the point where his height even shrinks down as theirs had. Father The owner of a handyman shop. Although he looks like he could be a responsible father, he is in fact a huge fool. He also happens to look rather similar to the father in Otasuke-kun, except for the fact he bears a large three-toothed overbite. Mother Chota's mother, a housewife. She somewhat resembles the sextuplets' mother, though wearing her hair in a high bun. Though she wasn't much of a common star, her design was once used as a guest in Otasuke-kun. Demekin Chota's best friend. He is originally named Otasuke in his first few manga appearances, to allude to him being the lead of Otasuke-kun, along with him being Chota's own assistant. However, his name is changed to "Demekin" for the rest of the series. Serialization See also List of chapters in Leave it to Chota * Shonen: October 1963 to September 1965. Also serialized in two special chapters in Shonen's "Thriller Book" (January 15, 1964 and August 15, 1964). Koredeiinoda mistakenly lists the series as running until December 1965, however this is not truly the case at all. In total, there are 26 chapters, at least 3 of which have been missing from reprints of the series. Chapter 5 is presumably skipped over due to copyright matters involving references to Astro Boy and Tetsujin 28 (both also ran in Shonen), while others have not appeared for other unknown reasons. Reprints * Toho Publishing: "Osomatsu-kun: Leave it to Chota", 1 volume kashihon (1965). Published as a fifth volume of Osomatsu-kun by the company. Notably contains "#X1 Breaks Up", which is missing from later reprints like Akebono's "Complete Works" collection. * Bunka (Akebono): 3 volume kashihon, titled as "Comedy to Make You Laugh: Leave it to Chota" (お笑いお笑いまかせて長太), "I'll Do Everything: Leave it to Chota" (なんでもやるよまかせて長太), and "Do it Again and Again: Leave it to Chota" (コンチまたまたまかせて長太) * Kodama Press: 1 volume in "Diamond Comics" imprint (1966) * Akebono: 1 volume titled "Time to Work: Leave it to Chota" (よろずお仕事まかせて長太). The series was later reprinted as 2 volumes in the "Complete Works" release of Akatsuka's various works, although not simultaneously; vol.8 of the collection would cover part of the series and be released in 1969, while other chapters would be lumped into vol.17 and released in 1970. These reprints are infamous for the unusual choice in ordering chapters, as well as leaving out 3 stories. A 1-volume bunko edition was also released in 1976. * Shogakukan: The two Akebono volumes are digitized in the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set, released in 2002. Print-on-demand versions can be ordered by Japanese residents via Comic Park. The entire series has yet to be collected in a release, let alone an eBook edition. The chapter "Miso is a Miso Robot", missing from most reprints, can be found in vol.2 of a compilation of popular stories from Shonen, released in 1989. References External Links * "Leave it to Chota" write-up at the Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese) Category:Gag works Category:1960s works Category:Manga Category:Works serialized in Shonen